By Jamie Lendino Apple's pro-level audio workstation software just got a huge makeover, and it's a winner. If you're a musician, producer, recording engineer, or composer, you simply have to look at Logic Pro X. Even if you're a steadfast Pro Tools wizard in a commercial setting, or are loyal to Digital Performer or Cubase—all excellent software packages—the long-awaited Logic Pro X contains some brilliant innovations that are worth examining, especially if you've also got an iPad hanging around the studio. Still just $199.99 (direct), Logic Pro X remains an amazing value, and various small upgrades throughout make it even easier than before to realize complete music projects from start to finish. Unless you need Pro Tools for compatibility with other studios, or simply because you're more familiar with it—perfectly valid reasons to go with Avid—Logic Pro is our favorite mainstream DAW and a clear Editors' Choice.
Setup and Installation
For this review, I tested Logic Pro X on two machines: a 3.4GHz Core i7 iMac 27-inch desktop Apple loaned to us, and my own MacBook Pro 15-inch, which has a 2.6GHz quad-core i7 processor, 8GB RAM, and a 750GB Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive I installed myself. Both machines were running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, a requirement for the latest version of Logic.
Logic Pro X is compatible with projects dating back to Logic 5; during the review, I had no problem opening existing projects I had done in Logic Pro 9, including those with third-party plug-ins like Izotope Ozone 5, EZDrummer 1.4, and Spectrasonics Omnisphere 1.56 engaged. Logic Pro X is also now fully 64-bit, which vastly increases the number of plug-ins instances you can run on any machine with more than 4GB of RAM. There's no more toggle to default to 32-bit mode, however; if this is a problem, you can keep your existing Logic Pro 9 install, as it runs just fine on the same machine.
Since Logic Pro X is an App Store download, you can install it on any machine you're registered on with Apple. It can now top 37GB for the full download, but you can get started with much less as the basic install. There's no hardware or software copy protection, and your purchase is safely stored in the cloud in case you ever need to reinstall it. Having no copy protection is novel and awesome in the realm of digital audio workstations, where Avid Pro Tools 11 requires a PACE iLok key, and Steinberg Cubase 7 requires its own proprietary eLicenser key. It's great if you're on a MacBook Pro with just two free USB ports—and USB hubs aren't an answer, because too many audio devices (not to mention other peripherals) prohibit using hubs in their user manuals.
With a Mac, you can also use the built-in sound card in lieu of a separate interface. Not only is it relatively clean sounding—no hiss or thin sound here—but it works perfectly fine for virtual instrument playback, with low playback latency, for composing music "in the box" with Logic Pro X, if not for recording live instruments. That's something that I've never been able to get to work reliably on the PC side, even when using supposedly low-latency, third-party ASIO drivers like ASIO4ALL—though I've seen occasional reports of success in various forums across the Internet. Either way, you'll still want at least a pair of headphones and a small USB-powered MIDI keyboard for Logic Pro X, at the very least. During testing, I had no problem alternating between using an Avid Mbox Pro to record and monitor audio, and just using the built-in headphone jack for virtual synth playback.
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